Medicare could Soon Cover the Services that Keep Diabetes from Developing

The Obama administration suggests expanding Medicare to cover programs that keep diabetes from developing among the millions of people at high risk. The program will also mark the Affordable Care Act's sixth anniversary.

The officials said in the announcement that Medicare could soon cover services for the prevention of a condition called pre-diabetes, which affects 86 million Americans. These people have high blood sugar level, but not high enough to be diagnosed as Type-2 diabetes, as reported by Washington Post.

The experiment that took five years and $11.8 million was conducted at YMCA's nationwide. It showed that older people could lose weight through continuous meetings that promote healthy eating, lifestyle counseling and exercise, which is an improvement to alleviate diabetes. More than 7,700 participants lost around five percent body weight.

These kinds of programs "help people live longer, fuller lives and save money across the [health care] system," said Sylvia M. Burwell, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. She said that once the program was expanded within Medicare, each beneficiary would save $2,650 over 15 months compared with current payment models, which is more than enough to cover its cost, she added.

Under the 2010 law, the health secretary can expand such demonstration projects across the country if it is proven to decrease Medicare spending without affecting the quality, and if the Medicare agrees, according to New York Times.

It will be a leap from the previous situation of the heath care law, where an act of Congress was required in making even small changes in Medicare benefits.  You can check here the average cost of Medicare supplemental insurance. 

The first preventive service that is eligible to be covered by the Medicare program under the Affordable Care Act was the counseling for pre-diabetes patients, according to Burwell.

The demonstration project results cleared "lay health workers'" role in alleviating chronic disease, according to Dr. Matt Longjohn, the chief health officer at the national Y.M.C.A. organization. These workers provided preventive services at which cost less compared to doctors, nurses and other health professionals, but the services were "just as effective in terms of weight loss," he added.

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